K.E.E.N. skills | The Fourth Revolution Blog

How Algorithms Increasingly Rule our Lives

Another example of how algorithms rule our lives is related to employment. Algorithms sift through applications and personality tests that are increasingly common on job application sites. This is well detailed in this Guardian column: ‘How algorithms rule our working lives‘.

We had already written about how algorithms and Artificial Intelligence already influence our genes. In the essay on employment, the author shows how algorithms decide on the fate of applications taking into account a number of parameters which unfortunately appear sometimes to disadvantage the poor or sick. One other aspect is also highlighted: many companies tend to use the same algorithm/ subcontractor, therefore the lack of diversity creating exclusion.

Data crunching can surely detect certain aspects of our lives that are covered today by medical secret, by law. Anti-discrimination regulation will have to be upgraded to account for this issue.

And we will have to learn how to make our applications more machine-compliant, by adding the frequency of the right keywords too. All in all, our internet presence will become increasingly an important factor to master so as to project the right image to the algorithms that will take important decisions for our lives.

How Operating in a Foreign Language Makes Us More Rational

Going deeper in our exploration of the relativity of our mental structures, this excellent article ‘How Morality Changes in a Foreign Language‘ is also very insightful.

Research shows that we definitely have different ethical standpoints depending on the language we use. In particular it would seem we are more deliberate (rational) when using a foreign language. There are several explanations for this – the effort needed to operate in the foreign language, or the fact that our original language is related to so many emotions, which the foreign language is less.

Whatever the deep explanation, this creates significant issues when working internationally, for example when negotiating an agreement with someone in his native language. The fact that the foreign speaker will be more deliberate and less emotional is rarely considered.

Why Leaders Must Put On a Show

“Leaders must be able to put on a show, to display energy and pay attention to others, regardless of how they may feel at the time” writes Jeffrey Pfeffer in ‘Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time‘

He continues: “In fact, being authentic is pretty much the opposite of what leaders must do. Leaders do not need to be true to themselves. Rather, leaders need to be true to what the situation and what those around them want and need from them. And often what others want and need is the reassurance that things will work out and the confidence that they are on the right track.”

It is true that I have found that the advice of being authentic as a leader is not always the best way to perform the role. On the other hand, sometimes being authentic allows a real connection with the people or the team, and that is also worthwhile. The issue here is to know when to be authentic and when to put on a show. And most of the time it is about putting on a show for the team.

How To Overcome the ‘Sunk Cost Syndrome’

I am always amazed at how difficult it can be for individuals and organizations to avoid the ‘sunk cost’ fallacy, with dramatic consequences.

Not that I would be immune to the phenomenon – I always tend to store too much stuff thinking that I might use it sometime.

Still in my consulting assignments, with an external eye, it is with despair that I observe people persist on doomed projects just because of the effort and expense that has been involved in the past. The technology can be inadequate or obsolete, the object broken beyond obvious repair, still they persist.

Overcoming the ‘sunk cost syndrome’ clearly requires to avoid any emotional attachment with the object or the project. It thus generally requires an external independent view that was not involved. It can be someone from somewhere else in the organization, or an external party.

At any rate, every investment on an existing tool and any cleanup of storage needs to be done with the sunk cost syndrome in mind. It is often cheaper and more convenient to buy new than try to fix an old stuff. Always get an external view of someone that was not involved to get out of the ‘sunk cost syndrome’.

How Being Creative Means Being Boring in Other Fields of Life

Flaubert said it best: “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” [h/t Austin Kleon]

Being creative and original in certain fields requires brain power, attention that can’t be used also for other activities. Therefore, the rest of the life of creative people is often boring. For example, they don’t change their type of clothes because they don’t want to think about it in the morning, and they often adhere to a very strict daily routine – often waking up early in the morning so as to be able to work without too much disturbance.

Hence, the behavior of people you meet is not necessarily correlated with creativity. And in fact the most hectic, stressed-out, busy people are probably not the most creative.

What part of your life do you keep boring so as to have space to be creative?

(original inspiration from Gapingvoid)

How Our Relationships are Mirrors We Can Use for Learning

“Relationships are mirrors to use for self-learning, enquiry, and investigation” – writes Cate Stillman in ‘Body Thrive‘.

She continues “Through that very learning, radical transformation of one’s life can take place. If our relationships are unclear, confusion and conflict will affect our well-being.”

I like the idea that our relationships are like mirrors that we can use to get feedback on who or what we really are. And the thing is that we don’t use relationships in this capacity enough. We underestimate what they can bring to us in particular when they are deep and authentic.

Think about your most important relationships today. How could you use better their mirror capability to improve yourself?

How Leadership Development Programs are Designed to Derail Those Who Believe in Them

The thought might be a bit extreme but is worthwhile considering: what if the leadership development programs were actually designed to filter out of the career progression those who really believe in them?

Following up on our review of Jeffrey Pfeffer‘s book ‘Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time‘ (see our post ‘Why the Leadership Industry Is Failing‘, the author notes that in a typical career, “The critical time comes around twenty years [in the career], when, if successful, people have reached very senior hierarchical levels where everyone around them is smart and accomplished.”

He continues “At that point, the differentiating factor is the ability to navigate increasingly politically charged environments that are peopled by those who mostly do not fulfill the leadership industry’s prescriptions“. This inconsistency between the actual behavior of successful leaders and what is being taught in the programs is actually quite striking also from my own experience.

Hence it is almost a natural deduction that if we were to apply what is being taught in leadership development courses, we condemn ourselves to career failure. Of course reality is not as black and many leadership course instructors and developers have good intent. However the thought is worth considering. A certain degree of unconventionality is required in all cases.

How ‘unconventional’ are you in the way you lead?

Why the Leadership Industry Is Failing

In the highly recommended book ‘Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time‘, Jeffrey Pfeffer takes a very strong position on the failing of what he calls the “leadership industry” to produce the strong leaders organizations and society need.

“My conclusion that follows from these two sets of facts: The leadership industry has failed. Good intentions notwithstanding, there is precious little evidence that any of these recommendations have had a positive impact.”

He started from an “observation: on the one hand, there is an ever-growing, enormous leadership industry consisting of an almost limitless number of books, articles, speeches, workshops, blogs, conferences, training sessions, and corporate leadership-development efforts, activities that have existed for decades. […]

The recommendations include, but are not limited to, that leaders inspire trust, be authentic, tell the truth, serve others (particularly those who work for and with them), be modest and self-effacing, exhibit empathic understanding and emotional intelligence, and other similar seemingly sensible nostrums.

And on the other hand, there sits ample, even overwhelming evidence of workplaces filled with disengaged, dissatisfied employees who do not trust their leaders and whose oft-expressed number one desire is to leave their current employer. What’s the upshot? Not only is the world filled with dysfunctional workplaces, but leaders themselves are not doing so well, as they confront shorter job tenures and an ever-higher probability of suffering career derailments and getting fired.”

I am not too far from agreeing with this view. I am generally suspicious about mainstream ‘unanimity’ on concepts and approaches and I must say that leadership is an area of much concern. In future posts we will explore more this interesting observation and conclusion.

How to Formulate Powerful Deception-Busting Questions

Following up on our post ‘How to Spot Deception‘ and the book ‘Spy the Lie: How to spot deception the CIA way‘, a type of very powerful question is emphasized in the book. Powerful questions are always very useful because of the change they can cause. It is a tenet of coaching in particular.

The bait question is of the form: “Is there any chance that anyone could have seen you doing this/being there?”

As the authors explain “You’ve asked a question that, like the previous one, put [the person] in processing mode. This time, your question is what we call a bait question. A bait question is a hypothetical question that operates on a psychological principle called a “mind virus.””

It is a tough question because it might require a lot of explanation and an unclear of hesitant answer can be very revealing.

As a tough question it requires a bit of context and preparation to be the most effective, still, it is extremely powerful. There are instances where this type of question will be very useful.

How to Spot Deception

I can only recommend the book ‘Spy the Lie: How to spot deception the CIA way‘ by Philip Houston & co. In spite of the title it is a book written by real professionals of deception identification and the approach is very interesting.

Basically the approach is “in order to determine whether a person is being untruthful, we need to look and listen for the first deceptive behavior to occur within the first five seconds after that stimulus is delivered“.

Then in addition, to be valid this deceptive behavior needs to come as a cluster with a second deceptive behavior following closely. “A cluster is defined simply as any combination of two or more deceptive indicators, which, you’ll remember, can be either verbal or nonverbal. So a cluster might be one verbal and one nonverbal, or two nonverbals, or two verbals and one nonverbal, and so on. What do you do if there’s just a single deceptive behavior in response to the stimulus? You ignore it.”

The difficult side of the approach is that “The strategic principle is that if you want to know if someone is lying, you need to ignore, and thereby not process, truthful behavior“, because there will be a lot of truthful behavior at the same time as well.

Have a read of the book, it is great learning in everyday life.

How Rituals Are Essential to Lower Stress and Enhance Creativity

Rituals in our lives are essential to keep us focused on what is really important, while removing a lot of thinking and keeping us in a certain comfort zone for part of the day.

As Cate Stillman writes in her book ‘Body Thrive’, “When your day-to-day habits are simple and repetitive, you can enjoy amazing depth, connectedness, and success in other areas of your life.”

Steve Jobs was famous for wearing always the same clothes so that he did not have to think about which ones to choose from in the morning.

As I travel a lot I find it tougher to hold on to some rituals however I still have some, like the way I prepare my luggage and where I put things.

Establish rituals in your lives and lower your stress while increasing your effectiveness!

How It Is Important to Remain Visible and Familiar

Following up on our previous post ‘Why Pure Performance Does Not Guarantee Success‘, one essential element is visibility.

Keeping visible is hugely important. As Jeffrey Pfeffer writes “The simple fact is that people like what they remember— and that includes you! In order for your great performance to be appreciated, it needs to be visible. But beyond visibility, the mere exposure research teaches us that familiarity produces preference. Simply put, in many cases, being memorable equals getting picked.”

Familiarity adds a layer of emotion on top of visibility, leading to being memorable.

This also explains, for example, why far-away assignments are often not conducive to promotions compared to assignments at headquarters. Or why, in terms of business development, familiarity is an essential objective of relationship development.

Stay visible, develop familiarity and become memorable. And then get picked!

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